Jesper Simonsen
Roskilde University, Department of People and Technology, Faculty Member
In its promise to contribute to considerable cost savings and improved patient care through efficient analysis of the tremendous amount of data stored in electronic health records (EHR), there is currently a strong push for the... more
In its promise to contribute to considerable cost savings and improved patient care through efficient analysis of the tremendous amount of data stored in electronic health records (EHR), there is currently a strong push for the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) in health-care. We identify, through a study of AI being used to predict patient no-show's, that for the AI to gain full potential there lies a need to balance the introduction of AI with a proper focus on the patients and the clinicians' interests. We call for a Participatory Design (PD) approach to understand and reconfigure the socio-technical setup in health-care, especially where AI is being used on EHR data that are manually being submitted by health-care personnel. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Participatory design; Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing.
Research Interests:
Abstract. Many opportunities for benefitting from information technology (IT) are not discovered until IT systems are in operational use. The realization of these benefits de- pends on local efforts that cannot presume top-management... more
Abstract. Many opportunities for benefitting from information technology (IT) are not discovered until IT systems are in operational use. The realization of these benefits de- pends on local efforts that cannot presume top-management support but must themselves generate the innovation potential necessary to improve system use. To facilitate such local efforts, we propose effects-driven IT improvement. It consists of iteratively specify- ing, realizing, and evaluating the usage effects pursued with a system. We describe the effects-driven process and illustrate it with three real-world cases. On this basis, we dis- cuss its contributions toward local benefits realization at the post-implementation stage. Our overarching contribution is to provide a means of operationalizing and packaging im- provement initiatives in a manner that combines local and lightweight experimentation with the data-driven realization of meaningful effects. The three cases illustrate that the effects-driven process can reopen the window of opportunity for benefits realization, re- sult in learning that calls for respecifying the pursued effect, and render evaluation data almost superfluous because the local actors are confident that the effect is substantial and real. In addition, local initiatives to improve system use may create the momentum, eval- uation infrastructure, and benefits documentation necessary to pave the way for further improvements. However, these potentials come with challenges, which we also discuss.
Key words: benefits management, effects-driven process, effects realization, IT improve- ment, local entrepreneurs, local innovation, post-implementation stage.
Key words: benefits management, effects-driven process, effects realization, IT improve- ment, local entrepreneurs, local innovation, post-implementation stage.
Research Interests:
This article investigates and exemplifies the personal side of our supervising skills. This is inspired from psychotherapeutic research specialized in investigating openminded contact and authentic meetings. The article is based on our... more
This article investigates and exemplifies the personal side of our supervising skills. This is inspired from psychotherapeutic research specialized in investigating openminded contact and authentic meetings. The article is based on our experiences supervising project groups at Roskilde University. Supervision is sometimes a challenging task that may manifest and confront personally-related issues. We advocate combining an academic and personal approach to supervising project groups. We provide a range of empirical examples from the supervising project groups, illustrating the type of personal challenges we meet. These challenges are characterized and conceptualized, and some concrete ways to deal with them are proposed.
Research Interests:
This is a note for the lecture on Work Analysis held on March 23, 1994 on Department of Computer Science, Roskilde University. It is based on the fol- lowing literature: Schmidt, Kjeld: "A Dialectical Approach to Functional Analysis of... more
This is a note for the lecture on Work Analysis held on March 23, 1994 on Department of Computer Science, Roskilde University. It is based on the fol- lowing literature:
Schmidt, Kjeld: "A Dialectical Approach to Functional Analysis of Office Work", 1986 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. October 14-17, 1986, Atlanta, Geordia.
Schmidt, Kjeld: "Function Analysis Instrument", in G. Schäfer et al. (ed.): Functional Analysis of Office Requirements: A Multiperspective Approach, Wiley, Chichester etc., UK, 1988, pp. 261-289.
Schmidt, Kjeld: Funktionsanalysemetoden. En indføring. [The Function Analysis Method. An Introduction], Arbejdsnotater #89-1, 2. udgave, Fagbevægelsens Center for Informationsteknologi, Søborg, Denmark, 1989.
Schmidt, Kjeld, and Peter Carstensen: Arbejdsanalyse, Teori og praksis,[Work Analysis, Theory and practice], Risø National Laboratory, (Risø-M-2889), Roskilde, Denmark, 1990.
Besides the literature it is based on meetings and discussions with Kjeld Schmidt and Peter Carstensen.
Schmidt, Kjeld: "A Dialectical Approach to Functional Analysis of Office Work", 1986 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. October 14-17, 1986, Atlanta, Geordia.
Schmidt, Kjeld: "Function Analysis Instrument", in G. Schäfer et al. (ed.): Functional Analysis of Office Requirements: A Multiperspective Approach, Wiley, Chichester etc., UK, 1988, pp. 261-289.
Schmidt, Kjeld: Funktionsanalysemetoden. En indføring. [The Function Analysis Method. An Introduction], Arbejdsnotater #89-1, 2. udgave, Fagbevægelsens Center for Informationsteknologi, Søborg, Denmark, 1989.
Schmidt, Kjeld, and Peter Carstensen: Arbejdsanalyse, Teori og praksis,[Work Analysis, Theory and practice], Risø National Laboratory, (Risø-M-2889), Roskilde, Denmark, 1990.
Besides the literature it is based on meetings and discussions with Kjeld Schmidt and Peter Carstensen.
I have recently conducted a larger action-oriented study in The Film Board in Denmark, with Finn Kensing, as part of our MUST-project, in which the overall effort is to develop theories and methods for designers doing (early) design... more
I have recently conducted a larger action-oriented study in The Film Board in Denmark, with Finn Kensing, as part of our MUST-project, in which the overall effort is to develop theories and methods for designers doing (early) design studies in an organizational context. Action-oriented research has unique benefits. The researchers have their own experiences to draw on; one has the possibility to test different conceptual frameworks and methods, etc. However there may be complications if this is the only research approach used. Even though the study in The Film Board takes place in an industrial setting, our contract on the site allowed research to be a main part of the activities. As a result the situation on which the study was based is somewhat "ideal" and "laboratory-like," excluding certain kinds of constraints. To address this problem I have undertaken a complementary case-study in which I observe a large-scale early design study within the administration of Stanford University. So, my primarily interest in this case is the "real-life" and "environmental" constraints out of the power and control of the designers in the team that I have observed, which my action-oriented study in The Film Board tend to ignore, due to the fact that we in this study could do pretty much what we wanted to.
This is a note for the lecture on Checkland's Soft System Methodology (SSM) held on March 29, 2000 on Department of Computer Science, Roskilde University. It is a short introduction to SSM based on two primary literature's, - Checkland,... more
This is a note for the lecture on Checkland's Soft System Methodology (SSM) held on March 29, 2000 on Department of Computer Science, Roskilde University. It is a short introduction to SSM based on two primary literature's,
- Checkland, Peter: Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester, West Sussex, UK, 1981, (referred to as SSM, 81), and
- Checkland, Peter, and Ji Scholes: Soft Systems Methodology in Action. Chichester, West Sussex, UK, 1990, (referred to as SSM, 90).
First some background for SSM is given followed by a description of SSM as described in (SSM, 81) and the revised SSM as described in (SSM, 90). SSM and the construction of Information Systems (IS) is briefly mentioned and, as a summary, a table of key concepts and techniques/guidelines is presented. Finally, the philosophy of SSM and the Work Analysis' critique of SSM is described.
- Checkland, Peter: Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester, West Sussex, UK, 1981, (referred to as SSM, 81), and
- Checkland, Peter, and Ji Scholes: Soft Systems Methodology in Action. Chichester, West Sussex, UK, 1990, (referred to as SSM, 90).
First some background for SSM is given followed by a description of SSM as described in (SSM, 81) and the revised SSM as described in (SSM, 90). SSM and the construction of Information Systems (IS) is briefly mentioned and, as a summary, a table of key concepts and techniques/guidelines is presented. Finally, the philosophy of SSM and the Work Analysis' critique of SSM is described.
In this paper we address how to do reliable systems design in small complex organizations-small in the sense that the design project we use as an example has approximately 50 employees, and complex in the sense that the employees had very... more
In this paper we address how to do reliable systems design in small complex organizations-small in the sense that the design project we use as an example has approximately 50 employees, and complex in the sense that the employees had very different roles and relationships. We use the term design in the same way as architects do-focusing on the analysis of needs and the preliminary design of functionality and form-in contrast to what is common within computer science, where the design term is borrowed from engineering-focusing on construction and implementation. Current approaches used in industry and published in literature (e.g. SA, SO, OOA, and 000) tend to ignore design as being a political endeavour also. Also they tend to neglect the potentials in participatory design, and/or they tend to homogenize users not being sensitive towards individual needs. Our approach is more in line with ongoing research within Participatory Design, in that we see results of a design project to include a conceptual design in terms of a written document, sketches, mock ups and/or prototypes. We consider an evaluation of individual and organizational consequences of implementing the design as well as a plan for the implementation to be part of the result. ' Ethnographic approaches to systems design has proved valuable, especially within highly specialized product development and research oriented design settings, reports on concrete consequences on a specific design due to such an approach seem scarce. We reflect upon an action research project carried out over a period of 1 112 years in a public organization in Northern Europe. We were called upon to conduct what ended up as 3 design projects. Having a design approach In PDC'94: 47 inspired by ethnography and intervention, we did in-depth analysis of current work practices, carried out unstructured interviews, observation, video recording, document analysis, and the like. We set up participatory analysis and design workshops. The organization is currently implementing our visions and design proposals. We are presenting the setting we have worked in, the establishment of the project, the activities we carried out in one of the design projects, and some consequences our approach had on the final design. All three design projects are documented in Simonsen, (1994). We conclude by discussing some of the organizational and technical effects the approach had on our design, as well as political dilemmas we got involved in. The setting presented here represents the application area of the design approach we are developing: computer support for complex administrative, managerial, and professional work. The management's attitude is probably important for the relations we seek to establish with the individuals and the organization. Management should state that the purpose of the design project is supporting the existing workforce in meeting current and new challenges rather than headcount reduction.
The paper present our first attempt to formulate a design approach based upon our experiences from nine design projects in various organizations. In the projects we have experimented with techniques for analyzing the needs of the... more
The paper present our first attempt to formulate a design approach based upon our experiences from nine design projects in various organizations. In the projects we have experimented with techniques for analyzing the needs of the organization in question and for supporting the design process. The term "approach" is used as something in between commodified methods and isolated techniques supporting one or a few activities.
This is a note for the lecture on Simons perspective held on March 11, 1994 on Department of Computer Science, Roskilde University. It is based on the following literature: Bakka, Jørgen Frode and Egil Fivesdal: Organisationsteori.... more
This is a note for the lecture on Simons perspective held on March 11, 1994 on Department of Computer Science, Roskilde University. It is based on the following literature:
Bakka, Jørgen Frode and Egil Fivesdal: Organisationsteori. Struktur, kultur, processer, [Organizational Theory. Structure, Culture, Processes], Nyt Nordisk Forlag, Arnold Busck, Denmark, 1986.
Højrup, Thomas: Lønkapital under folkestyre. ØD-planernes strukturfejl & deres ophævelse, [Capital from Wages Under Representative Government. The Plans for Economic Democracy, their Structural Shortcomings and How to Solve Them], EUCIS (European Center for International Security), Rosinante/Munksgaard, Denmark, 1989.
Simon, Herbert A.: The Sciences of the Artificial, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Murray Printing Company, USA, 1969.
Simon, Herbert A.: "Applying Information Technology to Organizational Design", in Public Administration Review, Vol. 33, No. 3, May/June 1973, pp. 268-278.
Simon, Herbert A.: Administrative Behavior. A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization, Third Edition, The Free Press, Collier Macmillan Publishers, London, UK, 1976.
Bakka, Jørgen Frode and Egil Fivesdal: Organisationsteori. Struktur, kultur, processer, [Organizational Theory. Structure, Culture, Processes], Nyt Nordisk Forlag, Arnold Busck, Denmark, 1986.
Højrup, Thomas: Lønkapital under folkestyre. ØD-planernes strukturfejl & deres ophævelse, [Capital from Wages Under Representative Government. The Plans for Economic Democracy, their Structural Shortcomings and How to Solve Them], EUCIS (European Center for International Security), Rosinante/Munksgaard, Denmark, 1989.
Simon, Herbert A.: The Sciences of the Artificial, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Murray Printing Company, USA, 1969.
Simon, Herbert A.: "Applying Information Technology to Organizational Design", in Public Administration Review, Vol. 33, No. 3, May/June 1973, pp. 268-278.
Simon, Herbert A.: Administrative Behavior. A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization, Third Edition, The Free Press, Collier Macmillan Publishers, London, UK, 1976.
The paper presents a conceptual framework and a coherent method for design in an organizational context within the PD tradition. The MUST method has been developed throughout 10 projects in Danish and American organizations , and it has... more
The paper presents a conceptual framework and a coherent method for design in an organizational context within the PD tradition. The MUST method has been developed throughout 10 projects in Danish and American organizations , and it has recently been evaluated, and adopted by IT professionals within a large Danish organization. The method is based on thorough participation with users and managers, and it combines the use of ethnographic techniques and intervention. The paper describes the application area and perspective of the MUST method, presents six general principles on which the method is based, and describes five main activities providing a stepwise decision making process in relation to the overall design process. The paper concludes with a brief comparison of the MUST method with other approaches and by summing up the main points.
This paper presents a case study in the form of a contextual design project, the aim of which was to design a system for a particular organization. The starting point in the case was a need in the organization for a specific system. The... more
This paper presents a case study in the form of a contextual design project, the aim of which was to design a system for a particular organization. The starting point in the case was a need in the organization for a specific system. The case involved an analysis of the organizations customer relations. Involving customer relations in the design project had a powerful effect: it was revealed that the system the organization believed they needed was irrelevant, while they needed another system nobody had thought of beforehand. The paper presents the case by describing the setting and starting point of the design project, how the project was conducted, and which results it ended up with. This is followed by a discussion of the effects of, and lessons learned by, involving customer relations in contextual design.
Ethnography originates from anthropology where anthropologists spend extended periods of time with primitive societies making detailed observations of their practices. In a design context the aim of ethnography is to develop a thorough... more
Ethnography originates from anthropology where anthropologists spend extended periods of time with primitive societies making detailed observations of their practices.
In a design context the aim of ethnography is to develop a thorough understanding of current work practices as a basis for the design of computer support. A major point in ethnographically inspired approaches is that work is a socially organized activity where the actual behavior differs from how it is described by those who do it. This implies that detailed studies of work must include observations as well as interviews [for example 1, 4, 12]. Blomberg et al. [1] characterize ethnography with four principles and three main techniques: it takes place in natural settings; it is based on the principle of holism, that is, particular behaviors must be understood in the respective context; it develops descriptive understanding in contrast to prescriptive; it is grounded in a member's point-of-view. They use as main techniques observation, interview, and video analyses.
Using ethnography in the design of computer based systems has become increasingly prominent especially within the research communities of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), but also within Participatory Design (PD), and Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
Plowman et al. [9] have recently reviewed all studies using ethnography published within the CSCW literature. In this review, three issues (of particular concern to us) are raised. First, the dominant approach is sociologists conducting the ethnographic studies and informing computer scientists of their findings, such as in debriefing meetings [for example 5, 6]. Second, reports on concrete consequences of a specific design due to such an approach are typically absent. Third, a "need to consider developing hybrid and tailored forms of ethnography which can play different practical roles in the various phases of design" is argued [9 p. 321].
As computer scientists, we have adopted and experimented with ethnography in design [2, 10, 11]. We have developed a method for participatory design where ethnography is an embedded part of the overall design activities [8]. Participatory Design refers to an approach where users play an active part. Users and designers engage in mutual learning activities in order to understand users' current work and generate coherent visions for change [3].
We believe that practitioners can benefit from using ethnography in contextual design (particular when designing systems in a specific organizational context), but they must be aware of the conditions needed for such an approach.
This article presents a case from our research in the form of a design project for the Editorial Board of a Film Board (detailed in [10]). The project was conducted in two parts. Traditional techniques like meetings, interviews, document analysis, rich pictures, and mock-ups were used in Part One leading to a first design proposal. In Part Two, experiments with ethno-graphic techniques like observation and videorecording were applied and the effect was evaluated in light of the first design proposal.
Here, we present the organization and describe the Editorial Board design project. We spent approximately 14 person weeks over a period of 10 months on the project because it also served as a research project. Had it been a real life consulting job, our estimate would be approximately 10 person weeks.
In a design context the aim of ethnography is to develop a thorough understanding of current work practices as a basis for the design of computer support. A major point in ethnographically inspired approaches is that work is a socially organized activity where the actual behavior differs from how it is described by those who do it. This implies that detailed studies of work must include observations as well as interviews [for example 1, 4, 12]. Blomberg et al. [1] characterize ethnography with four principles and three main techniques: it takes place in natural settings; it is based on the principle of holism, that is, particular behaviors must be understood in the respective context; it develops descriptive understanding in contrast to prescriptive; it is grounded in a member's point-of-view. They use as main techniques observation, interview, and video analyses.
Using ethnography in the design of computer based systems has become increasingly prominent especially within the research communities of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), but also within Participatory Design (PD), and Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
Plowman et al. [9] have recently reviewed all studies using ethnography published within the CSCW literature. In this review, three issues (of particular concern to us) are raised. First, the dominant approach is sociologists conducting the ethnographic studies and informing computer scientists of their findings, such as in debriefing meetings [for example 5, 6]. Second, reports on concrete consequences of a specific design due to such an approach are typically absent. Third, a "need to consider developing hybrid and tailored forms of ethnography which can play different practical roles in the various phases of design" is argued [9 p. 321].
As computer scientists, we have adopted and experimented with ethnography in design [2, 10, 11]. We have developed a method for participatory design where ethnography is an embedded part of the overall design activities [8]. Participatory Design refers to an approach where users play an active part. Users and designers engage in mutual learning activities in order to understand users' current work and generate coherent visions for change [3].
We believe that practitioners can benefit from using ethnography in contextual design (particular when designing systems in a specific organizational context), but they must be aware of the conditions needed for such an approach.
This article presents a case from our research in the form of a design project for the Editorial Board of a Film Board (detailed in [10]). The project was conducted in two parts. Traditional techniques like meetings, interviews, document analysis, rich pictures, and mock-ups were used in Part One leading to a first design proposal. In Part Two, experiments with ethno-graphic techniques like observation and videorecording were applied and the effect was evaluated in light of the first design proposal.
Here, we present the organization and describe the Editorial Board design project. We spent approximately 14 person weeks over a period of 10 months on the project because it also served as a research project. Had it been a real life consulting job, our estimate would be approximately 10 person weeks.
The paper discusses how designers, conducting design projects in specific organization's, can assure that the design of IT is appropriately linked to the organizations overall business strategy. A case study is presented in the form of a... more
The paper discusses how designers, conducting design projects in specific organization's, can assure that the design of IT is appropriately linked to the organizations overall business strategy. A case study is presented in the form of a design project in a small public organization. Functional analysis was used as a means to clarify how a specific needed information system could support the organization's new business strategy. Using functional analysis in the design project had a powerful effect: it seriously challenged the organization's business strategy and revealed that the system the organization believed it needed was irrelevant, while it needed other systems nobody had thought of beforehand. Functional analysis is outlined, the results from using this analysis are described, and lessons to be learned are discussed. The paper concludes by pointing out the need for explicit attention to the relation between an organiza-tion's IT-projects and its business strategy and by suggesting that it is the responsibility of the designers, conducting design projects, to assure that this task is taken proper care of. Practical guidelines for this purpose are given.
We address computer support for work and its coordination in one of the radio channels of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Based upon ethnographically inspired analysis and participatory design techniques, we propose design solutions... more
We address computer support for work and its coordination in one of the radio channels of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Based upon ethnographically inspired analysis and participatory design techniques, we propose design solutions now implemented or under implementation. We focus on cooperative aspects within and among the radio channel's editorial units, and between editorial units and the editorial board. Finally, we discuss technical and organisational aspects of the design, seen in light of recent CSCW concepts.
This paper introduces the term 'anchoring' within systems development: Visions, developed through early systems design within an organization, need to be deeply rooted in the organization. A vision's rationale needs to be understood by... more
This paper introduces the term 'anchoring' within systems development: Visions, developed through early systems design within an organization, need to be deeply rooted in the organization. A vision's rationale needs to be understood by those who decide if the vision should be implemented as well as by those involved in the actual implementation. A model depicting a recent trend within systems development is presented: Organizations rely on purchasing generic software products and/or software development outsourced to external contractors. A contemporary method for participatory design, where anchoring is considered to be a main activity, is outlined. The task of anchoring visions is described, and techniques and activities are suggested with respect to those actors that have to act on the visions and the recommendations from a design proposal. The paper concludes that obtaining appropriate anchoring requires designers to take on a role compared to that of an architect.
We address design of computer support for work and its coordination at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. We propose design solutions based upon participatory design techniques and ethnographically inspired analysis within a full scale... more
We address design of computer support for work and its coordination at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. We propose design solutions based upon participatory design techniques and ethnographically inspired analysis within a full scale design project. The project exemplifies an ambitious, yet realistic, design practice, that provides a sound basis for organisational decision making and for technical and organizational development and implementation. We focus on cooperative aspects within and among the editorial units, and between editorial units and the editorial board. We discuss technical and organisational aspects of the design, seen in light of recent CSCW concepts, including coordination and computational coordination mechanisms, technologies of accountability, and workflow from within and without.
The article presents a conceptual framework and a coherent method for design in an organizational context within the participatory design tradition. The MUST method has been developed throughout 10 projects in Danish and American... more
The article presents a conceptual framework and a coherent method for design in an organizational context within the participatory design tradition. The MUST method has been developed throughout 10 projects in Danish and American organizations, and it has recently been evaluated and adopted by 3 Danish organizations. The method is based on thorough participation with users and managers, and it combines the use of ethnographic techniques and intervention. The article describes the application area and perspective of the method, presents 6 general principles on which the method is based, and describes 5 main activities providing a stepwise decision-making process in the overall design process. Each of the main activities are illustrated by an example taken from our last project. The article concludes by summing up the main points.
Cultural analysis, especially in its ethnographic form/variant, has been applied for some years now within the Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), the Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and the Participa-tory Design (PD)... more
Cultural analysis, especially in its ethnographic form/variant, has been applied for some years now within the Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), the Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and the Participa-tory Design (PD) communities. These communities attract academics and practitioners who are concerned about the use-quality of computer based systems. Nevertheless, Bader and Nyce argue that cultural analysis "will probably not play a significant role in the development process at the least as it is presently defined." We argue that since the design and use of technology is socially constructed, cultural analysis will only play a role if its proponents strive to make room for it. The argument builds on our own experiences, being computer scientists who have integrated an ethnographic style of working with the design of computer based systems, and on the experiences of colleagues within the above mentioned communities. Some of us have gained our experience from projects in private and public organizations, and those of us also working in academia have included ethnographic techniques in our teaching. Such initiatives represent alternatives neglected by Bader and Nyce, whose assumptions seem to be that the role of cultural analysis is limited to assessments of a development process, to enlarging our understanding of the social nature of development and use, or to providing feedback to developers. We argue that ethnography can play a more proactive role within design. (Bader and Nyce use the terms 'cultural analysis' and 'ethnography'. In our argumentation we use only the term 'ethnography' with which we are most familiar.)
The article reviews the concept of 'strategic alignment' and presents the critique by Ciborra in SJIS (Vol. 9, No. 1) entitled "De profundis? Deconstructing the concept of strategic alignment". We present a design approach that suggests... more
The article reviews the concept of 'strategic alignment' and presents the critique by Ciborra in SJIS (Vol. 9, No. 1) entitled "De profundis? Deconstructing the concept of strategic alignment". We present a design approach that suggests how designers, conducting design projects in a specific organization, can take care of and ensure that the design of IT is appropriately aligned with the organization's overall business strategy. We describe a design project using this approach. The project presented took place in a small public organization. Focusing on alignment as part of the design process had a powerful effect: It revealed that the system the organization believed it needed was irrelevant, while the organization needed other systems that had not been thought of beforehand. It also led to findings that challenged the organization's existing business strategy, and it gives an example of how environmental conditions, business strategies, and plans for IT are changing and hence challenge traditional approaches to strategic alignment. The results from the design project are described and related to IS literature and to Ciborra's article. Keywords: Strategic alignment, strategic information systems planning, care, Scandinavian approach to systems design, participatory design method, design approach to strategic alignment.
When a networked organisation chooses to invest a considerable amount of resources in deploying a groupware application the reasons and goals can vary. No matter why the groupware was initially deployed it is in general very difficult to... more
When a networked organisation chooses to invest a considerable amount of resources in deploying a groupware application the reasons and goals can vary. No matter why the groupware was initially deployed it is in general very difficult to monitor and evaluate how it is actually used and integrated with the work practice. This research-in-progress investigates the possibilities of evaluating the integration by characterising emergent use-patterns. We have studied the deployment and use of a generic web based groupware application-Lotus QuickPlace (QP)-in a large networked organisation distributed throughout Scandinavia and elsewhere. We have employed a research method comprising different data-gathering techniques-interview, participant observation, document analysis, survey, and http-log analysis-in an attempt to analyse how the groupware is used and which general use-patterns emerge after deployment. The ongoing research has been carried out since the initial installation of the application in summer 2000, and has identified different types of general use-patterns, which have emerged in the subsequent use of the groupware in the organisation. We examine four cases of QP use and describe the emergent use-pattern in each case. Characterising factors of these four use-patterns are discussed in order to show some preliminary findings of this approach and discuss future research efforts.
The chapter reflects on activitites in three IT-organizations to change work practices in early design activitites. The activitites in the three organizations were related to introducing a new method for design in an organizational... more
The chapter reflects on activitites in three IT-organizations to change work practices in early design activitites. The activitites in the three organizations were related to introducing a new method for design in an organizational context, developed by the authors (Kensing et al., 1998a). The method is developed based on a combination of theoretical studies and experimental development. In the experiments we - as designing researchers - have carried out ten design projects in various organizations in Denmark and the US in cooperation with designers and users from the involved companies (Bødker and Kensing, 1994; Kensing et al. 1998b; Simonsen, 1997; Simonsen and Kensing, 1997). We use the term design in the same way as architects do - focusing on the analysis of needs and opportunities, and the design of functionality and form. We do acknowledge, however, that in a succeeding development process, further design is needed, and that when applying a computer system, users might very well find new ways of utilizing the system, as well as come up with additional demands. This does not negate the need for a design that is a good first approximation. The method is inspired by ethnographic approaches, and by Scandinavian participatory design approaches. The MUST method supports - by its conceptual framework, its techniques, and tools - ways of repre-senting current work and the envisioned IT systems. We have participated in designing IT support for 9 people on an editorial board of a film company and for 50 people working in a research and development lab; we have designed multimedia support for 140 people working at a radio station. All the work domains can be characterized as professional work in complex settings with a very open-ended agenda for the design project - no clear statement of the problems, of the kind of IT support needed, or of how the project should be carried out. To put the method to a ”reality test” we recently carried out projects in three Danish IT-organizations. Our role in these projects was restricted to method dessimination – analyzing the IT-designers’ current work practices, propose changes, teaching, supervision, and coaching – and to evaluate the method in close cooperation with the designers in the three projects . In this chapter we reflect on our experiences in relation to method dessimination, i.e. changing work practices of designers doing real life industrial projects. We hereby invite the reader to take part in our reflections! The chapter is structured as follows. Section 2 contains a description of the research approach in the project. In section 3 we briefly present the method that we have developed and which was introduced and tested in the three organizations. In section 4 we present the three organizations and the activities performed in each organization. Secion 5 presents the lessons learned and a conclusion.
Integrating groupware in work practices poses a range of interrelated problems comprising organisational and technological issues. These are complex issues, since they derive from the combined influence of a range of heterogeneous... more
Integrating groupware in work practices poses a range of interrelated problems comprising organisational and technological issues. These are complex issues, since they derive from the combined influence of a range of heterogeneous elements and emergent phenomena in the intersection of groupware and work practice. To understand these issues a framework of characteristics is identified and termed work practice characteristics to describe important aspects of the hybrid configuration of groupware and situated work practices. Drawing on concepts and work practice studies in the field of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) the paper argues that the interrelations of heterogeneous elements and emergent phenomena arising from the integration of groupware in practice should be made visible from a perspective encompassing both the social and the technical. Two cases from an empirical investigation of how groupware is employed to support new ways of working in a large European financial organisation are analysed to illustrate situations with high and low integration of groupware. The framework of work practice characteristics is discussed in the light of these findings and implications for further work practice research are drawn.
In this paper we investigate collaboration within global virtual project teams. Our objective is to understand the practice of virtual teams to determine conditions needed in order to integrate groupware in such a context. The research... more
In this paper we investigate collaboration within global virtual project teams. Our objective is to understand the practice of virtual teams to determine conditions needed in order to integrate groupware in such a context. The research question explored is: What are the conditions for integrating groupware technology in collaborative practice within virtual teams? Investigating this question we first develop a model explaining interdependent conditions for integrating groupware in collaborative practice (InterCon-model). We discuss our model theoretically, focusing on the negotiation of joint enterprise as the intentional practice within what we define as 'Teams of Practice'. Finally, our model is validated in an analysis of two empirical cases involving the establishment of virtual teams as Teams of Practice in a large global transportation company.
The paper suggests a framework advocating an integrated approach to software development stipulating the interconnection between Design, Organization and Business value networks (DOB). These three focus areas span collaborative... more
The paper suggests a framework advocating an integrated approach to software development stipulating the interconnection between Design, Organization and Business value networks (DOB). These three focus areas span collaborative development processes applying a range of facilitating tools, including distributed knowledge management product state models. The paper draws upon a series of discussion with Scandinavian IT Group (SIG). With an interest in how performance in their new organization develops SIG invited the research group to study measures of organizational performance and the use and effect of knowledge management tools in software development. The paper does not represent the viewpoint of SIG but outline our framework and major research questions.
My main research interest is the study of work practices of users and designers for the purpose of offering theories and methods for systems design in an organizational context. My research area is Information Systems (IS) including Human... more
My main research interest is the study of work practices of users and designers for the purpose of offering theories and methods for systems design in an organizational context. My research area is Information Systems (IS) including Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), and Participatory Design (PD). My research has been focused on interdisciplinary, empirically based studies, conducted by action research and case studies approaches in cooperation with industries including the Danish Film Board, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, WM-data, Nordea, Bombardier. In this paper I describe my research experiences as well as current and future research activities.
One important goal of employing groupware is to make possible complex collaboration between geographically distributed groups. This requires a dual transformation of both technology and work practice. The challenge is to reduce the... more
One important goal of employing groupware is to make possible complex collaboration between geographically distributed groups. This requires a dual transformation of both technology and work practice. The challenge is to reduce the complexity of the coordination work by successfully integrating the protocol stipulating the collaboration and the artefact, in form of the groupware application, mediating the collaboration. This paper analyses a generic groupware application that was deployed in a large financial organisation in order to support working groups distributed throughout four countries. Using the CSCW framework of coordination mechanisms, we have elicited six general factors influencing the integration of the groupware application in two situations.
Groupware is often used in distributed organizations to support communication and coordination. Managers direct resources and set up goals for the deployment of groupware. It is however difficult to foresee the effect of groupware and... more
Groupware is often used in distributed organizations to support communication and coordination. Managers direct resources and set up goals for the deployment of groupware. It is however difficult to foresee the effect of groupware and many cases report that groupware is either hardly used or does not produce the intended effects. We have analyzed the deployment and use of the web-based groupware application Lotus QuickPlace TM in a large financial distributed organization that has just emerged as the result of a major merger. Based on interviews, survey, and http log-analysis, we have identified four general types of settings where the groupware has been used: Newly established organizational units, special interest groups, short term projects, and teams handling recurrent tasks. We characterize these settings and present the overall conditions that have proven to be critical to the deployment of groupware in the case. Challenges and expectations are discussed and ideas concerning strategies for change are suggested. It is concluded that change related to groupware faces conditions that challenge ambitious goals in three of the settings, while conditions in general favour successful change related to recurrent tasks.
This article reports on a project introducing techniques from the MUST method for IT designers in a large international supplier of systems for tax assessment and auditing. The focus is on evaluating the fit between the supplier's system... more
This article reports on a project introducing techniques from the MUST method for IT designers in a large international supplier of systems for tax assessment and auditing. The focus is on evaluating the fit between the supplier's system and the customer's requirements, particularly through meetings aimed at aligning top management with the supplier's analysis. The article describes the MUST method' s anchoring principle and the technique of problem mapping supporting this principle. This participatory approach resulted in mutual learning processes with top management , which is rarely reported on in the PD community. Top management participated by reviewing, challenging, and reformu-lating the IT designers' central suppositions, assumptions, and hypotheses related to the causal relation between identified problems and suggested solutions.
This article presents results elicited from studies conducted in relation to implementing a web-based information system throughout a large distributed organization. We demonstrate the kind of expectations and conditions for change that... more
This article presents results elicited from studies conducted in relation to implementing a web-based information system throughout a large distributed organization. We demonstrate the kind of expectations and conditions for change that management face in relation to open-ended, configurable, and context specific web-based information systems like Lotus QuickPlace. Our synthesis from the empirical findings is related to two recent models, the improvisational change management model suggested by Orlikowski and Hofman (1997), and Gallivan's (2001) model for organizational adoption and assimilation. In line with comparable approaches from the knowledge management area (Dixon 2000; Markus 2001), we relate to, refine, and operation-alize the models from an overall organizational view by identifying and characterizing four different and general implementation contexts.
This article documents how log analysis can inform qualitative studies concerning the usage of web-based information systems (WIS). No prior research has used http log files as data to study collaboration between multiple users in... more
This article documents how log analysis can inform qualitative studies concerning the usage of web-based information systems (WIS). No prior research has used http log files as data to study collaboration between multiple users in organisational settings. We investigate how to perform http log analysis; what http log analysis says about the nature of collaborative WIS use; and how results from http log analysis may support other data collection methods such as surveys, interviews, and observation. The analysis of log files initially lends itself to research designs, which serve to test hypotheses using a quantitative methodology. We show that http log analysis can also be valuable in qualitative research such as case studies. The results from http log analysis can be triangulated with other data sources and for example serve as a means of supporting the interpretation of interview data. It can also be used to generate hypotheses, which were otherwise unthinkable. We suggest that log data be included as a main data source in the field of computer supported cooperative work, information systems, and computer-mediated communication, in order to help clarify the role of the technology related to concepts like coordination, task analysis, or communication.
This short paper outlines a recently initiated research project that concerns healthcare information systems and patient empowerment. Drawing on various theoretical backgrounds, Participatory Design (PD), Computer Supported Cooperative... more
This short paper outlines a recently initiated research project that concerns healthcare information systems and patient empowerment. Drawing on various theoretical backgrounds, Participatory Design (PD), Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), and Science Technology Studies (STS), we address the question of designing IT support for communication and coordination among the heterogeneous network of actors involved in contemporary healthcare work. The paper reports work in progress from a diabetes outpatient clinic at a large Danish hospital. The treatment of type II diabetes at the clinic is characterized by team treatment, a diabetes school, standard treatment plans, and an electronic patient record system. By studying work at the clinic as well as the patients' 'work' with their disease , we aim to come to grips with the complexity of treating type II diabetes and with the possibilities for and barriers toward enabling patients to take active part in their treatment.
Systems development is replete with projects that represent substantial resource investments but result in systems that fail to meet users' needs. Evidence-based development is an emerging idea intended to provide means for managing... more
Systems development is replete with projects that represent substantial resource investments but result in systems that fail to meet users' needs. Evidence-based development is an emerging idea intended to provide means for managing customer-vendor relationships and working systematically toward meeting customer needs. We are suggesting that the effects of the use of a system should play a prominent role in the contractual definition of IT projects and that contract fulfilment should be determined on the basis of evidence of these effects. Based on two ongoing studies of home-care management and electronic patient records for diabetes patients , this paper reports research in progress regarding the prospects and pitfalls of evidence-based development.
Joint enterprise and the role of the intermediator Challenges managing groupware in global virtual teams Bjørn, Pernille; Simonsen, Jesper Abstract Managing groupware technologies in global virtual teams is viewed as a process of... more
Joint enterprise and the role of the intermediator Challenges managing groupware in global virtual teams Bjørn, Pernille; Simonsen, Jesper Abstract Managing groupware technologies in global virtual teams is viewed as a process of integrating technology and collaboration. This involves a continual negotiation of the team's goals, processes, and technology. We investigate organizational factors constraining this integration process, by analyzing the failure of integrating groupware into two global virtual teams within industry. We present an empirically driven interpretive case study conducted in a large distributed global organization. Based on the empirical observations, we reveal two organizational factors challenging the integration process: The importance of joint enterprise and the role of the intermediator.
Evidence-based IT development aims at developing a new commercial contract model for IT projects where the cus-tomer's payment is dependent on measurable effects of using the vendor's system. The idea is to establish a strategic... more
Evidence-based IT development aims at developing a new commercial contract model for IT projects where the cus-tomer's payment is dependent on measurable effects of using the vendor's system. The idea is to establish a strategic partnership in which customer and IT vendor share the responsibility of providing IT solutions that meet agreed-upon, measurable effects. The project investigates effects of the use of electronic patient records, how collaboration between vendor and customer can be regulated, and how contract fulfillment could be determined on the basis of evidence of effects.
This workshop paper reports on a recently completed large scale PD experiment where paperbased patient records were replaced with an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system at Roskilde Hospital in Denmark. The use of large projected... more
This workshop paper reports on a recently completed large scale PD experiment where paperbased patient records were replaced with an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system at Roskilde Hospital in Denmark. The use of large projected screens led to an interesting reconfiguration of the cooperative work among the clinicians. During the nursing handovers and the team conferences, we observed collective investigations of the patient records-this was not observed when using paperbased patient records. The nurses also managed to change the screen for the team conference in order to make their observations more visible-in this way they managed to change the power balance between nurse and physician.
The objective of the project was to measure effects related to-patory design with clinicians from a neurological stroke unit. The project also gave input to the County's future strategy for incremental implementation of EHR. The content... more
The objective of the project was to measure effects related to-patory design with clinicians from a neurological stroke unit. The project also gave input to the County's future strategy for incremental implementation of EHR. The content of the EHR deployed. In parallel with this a number of effects related to-sed. Measurements were focused on the requested effects and acquired using various techniques including questionnaires, interviews, observations, and Task Load Index (TLX) ratings. In total, 15 nursing handovers, 8 ward rounds, and 11 patient conferences involving a total of 35 patients and more than 20 clinicians were included in the measurements. Data from the project has been comparatively analysed The results show-tent of an EHR, based on the clinician's actual needs, that current status in different situations during the clinical process .
The objective of the project was to measure the clinical usability of an EHR configured by use of participatory design with clinicians from a neurological stroke unit in order to get input to the County's future strategy for incremental... more
The objective of the project was to measure the clinical usability of an EHR configured by use of participatory design with clinicians from a neurological stroke unit in order to get input to the County's future strategy for incremental implementation of EHR. The content of the EHR was defined during a series of workshops with the clinicians after which the XML configuration files were written and deployed. In parallel with this, the participants from the University identified , prioritised and further specified a number of effects related to the clinical practice to be measured. The effects requested by the clinicians focused on improving their overview and assessment of patients as well as on more efficient coordination in three specific and highly cooperative situations, viz. nursing handover , ward round and patient conference. All three situations were measured before (using paper-based medical records) as well as during the week where the configured EHR completely replaced the paper-based medical record in order to compare a 'before' and 'after' situation. Measurements were focused on the requested effects and acquired using various techniques including questionnaires, interviews , observations, and Task Load Index (TLX) ratings. In total, 15 nursing handovers, 8 ward rounds, and 11 patient conferences involving a total of 35 patients and more than 20 clinicians were included in the measurements. Data from the project has been comparatively analysed by means of the TLX scores. Our results show several significant results, for example, during ward rounds the physicians experienced a significant improvement of TLX. The experiment has proven it possible to configure the content of an EHR that significantly improves the cli-nician's overview of the patient's current status in different clinical situations during the clinical process, based on the clinician's actual needs. Furthermore, the configuration process gave the County valuable experience concerning the content and management of a participatory design process as well as documentation of utility value that will be incorporated in future EHR projects.
One of the five regions in Denmark has initiated a remarkable and alternative strategy for the development of Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems. This strategy is driven by Participatory Design (PD) experiments and based on evidence... more
One of the five regions in Denmark has initiated a remarkable and alternative strategy for the development of Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems. This strategy is driven by Participatory Design (PD) experiments and based on evidence of positive effects on the clinical practice when using EPR systems. We present this PD strategy and our related research on evidence-based IT development. We report from a newly completed PD experiment with EPR in the region conducted through a close collaboration comprising a neurological stroke unit, the region's EPR unit, the vendor, as well as the authors.
Subject: Which parts of an electronic patient record (EPR) can initially form a stable standard solution to be used by all clini- cians? And which parts of an EPR can we predict needs initial as well as on-going re-configuration to meet... more
Subject: Which parts of an electronic patient record (EPR) can initially form a stable standard solution to be used by all clini- cians? And which parts of an EPR can we predict needs initial as well as on-going re-configuration to meet the needs from di- verse medical specialties.
Purpose: To analyze which screen types in a clinical process that can be standard configured and which are subject to initial as well as on-going re-configuration.
Methods and results: A pilot-project implementing a fully functional clinical process EPR was configured and used at a neurological ward, replacing all paper records 24/7. The analy- sis characterizes the different types of screens, a total of 243 included in the EPR solution. All screens have been extracted from the application and analyzed for changes – in total 222 changes.
Discussion and conclusion: Most screens (87%) are very sta- ble. Few (13%) are subjected to several re-configurations and they stabilize after an average of six iterations: Some may fur- ther stabilize over time since they address new but also general ways of working. Other screens relates to the specific medical specialty and cannot be part of a standard solution.
Keywords: Integrated Advanced Information Management Sys- tems, Software Design, Interprofessional Relations, User- Computer Interface, Problem-Oriented Medical Records.
Purpose: To analyze which screen types in a clinical process that can be standard configured and which are subject to initial as well as on-going re-configuration.
Methods and results: A pilot-project implementing a fully functional clinical process EPR was configured and used at a neurological ward, replacing all paper records 24/7. The analy- sis characterizes the different types of screens, a total of 243 included in the EPR solution. All screens have been extracted from the application and analyzed for changes – in total 222 changes.
Discussion and conclusion: Most screens (87%) are very sta- ble. Few (13%) are subjected to several re-configurations and they stabilize after an average of six iterations: Some may fur- ther stabilize over time since they address new but also general ways of working. Other screens relates to the specific medical specialty and cannot be part of a standard solution.
Keywords: Integrated Advanced Information Management Sys- tems, Software Design, Interprofessional Relations, User- Computer Interface, Problem-Oriented Medical Records.
This chapter presents results elicited from empirical studies of the implementation and use of an open-ended, configurable, and context specific information technology supporting networked communication in a large distributed... more
This chapter presents results elicited from empirical studies of the implementation and use of an open-ended, configurable, and context specific information technology supporting networked communication in a large distributed organization. Our findings are based on a longitudinal case study of the implementation and use of the technology that spread rapidly throughout the organization. We demonstrate the kind of expectations and conditions for change that management face when implementing such technologies for computer-mediated communication. Our synthesis from the empirical findings is related to two recent models, the improvisational change management model suggested by Orlikowski and Hofman (1997), and Gallivan’s model for organizational adoption and assimilation (Gallivan, 2001). We operationalize the change management models by identifying and characterizing four different and general implementation contexts and propose strategies for the organizational implementation of such technologies.
Involving top management in IT projects requires a vendor to be able to convince management that a proposed IT solution meets an organization’s particular needs. Vendors must convince management they understand the customer’s business and... more
Involving top management in IT projects requires a vendor to be able to convince management that a proposed IT solution meets an organization’s particular needs. Vendors must convince management they understand the customer’s business and their solution fits management’s overall requirements. A simple technique known as problem mapping has proved efficient in aligning vendors’ and customers’ interpretations of business needs and potential IT solutions. System consultants from a large international vendor learned to apply this technique of involving managers in the definition of their problems and in the causal relations between business needs and prospective IT solutions.
Purpose: To investigate the circumstances as to why it is so difficult in the primary care sector to implement IT based infrastructures supporting shared care. Case study: The qualitative analysis includes two separate case studies of... more
Purpose: To investigate the circumstances as to why it is so difficult in the primary care sector to implement IT based infrastructures supporting shared care.
Case study: The qualitative analysis includes two separate case studies of IT-supported shared care implemented in two different regions of Denmark throughout 2005. The study comprises 21 interviews and 35 hours of observations. The data were analysed through a coding process that led to the emergence of three main challenges impeding the organisational implementation of IT-supported shared care.
Discussion and conclusion: The two cases faced the same challenges that led to the same problem: The secondary care sector quickly adopted the system while the primary sector was far more sceptical towards using it. In both cases, we observe a discrepancy of needs satisfied, especially with regard to the primary care sector and its general practitioners which hinder bridging the primary sector (general practitioners) and the secondary sector (hospitals and outpatient clinics). Especially the needs associated with the primary sector were not being satisfied. We discovered three main challenges related to bridging the gap between the two sectors: (1) Poor integration with the general practitioners' existing IT systems; (2) low compatibility with general practitioners' work ethic; (3) and discrepancy between the number of diabetes patients and the related need for shared care. We conclude that development of IT-supported shared care must recognise the underlying and significant differences between the primary and secondary care sectors: If IT-supported shared care does not meet the needs of the general practitioners as well as the needs of the secondary care sector the initiative will fail.
Case study: The qualitative analysis includes two separate case studies of IT-supported shared care implemented in two different regions of Denmark throughout 2005. The study comprises 21 interviews and 35 hours of observations. The data were analysed through a coding process that led to the emergence of three main challenges impeding the organisational implementation of IT-supported shared care.
Discussion and conclusion: The two cases faced the same challenges that led to the same problem: The secondary care sector quickly adopted the system while the primary sector was far more sceptical towards using it. In both cases, we observe a discrepancy of needs satisfied, especially with regard to the primary care sector and its general practitioners which hinder bridging the primary sector (general practitioners) and the secondary sector (hospitals and outpatient clinics). Especially the needs associated with the primary sector were not being satisfied. We discovered three main challenges related to bridging the gap between the two sectors: (1) Poor integration with the general practitioners' existing IT systems; (2) low compatibility with general practitioners' work ethic; (3) and discrepancy between the number of diabetes patients and the related need for shared care. We conclude that development of IT-supported shared care must recognise the underlying and significant differences between the primary and secondary care sectors: If IT-supported shared care does not meet the needs of the general practitioners as well as the needs of the secondary care sector the initiative will fail.
A state-of-the-art method for introducing new information technology systems into an organization, illustrated by case studies drawn from a ten-year research project. The goal of participatory IT design is to set sensible, general, and... more
A state-of-the-art method for introducing new information technology systems into an organization, illustrated by case studies drawn from a ten-year research project.
The goal of participatory IT design is to set sensible, general, and workable guidelines for the introduction of new information technology systems into an organization. Reflecting the latest systems-development research, this book encourages a business-oriented and socially sensitive approach that takes into consideration the specific organizational context as well as first-hand knowledge of users' work practices and allows all stakeholders—users, management, and staff—to participate in the process. Participatory IT Design is a guide to the theory and practice of this process that can be used as a reference work by IT professionals and as a textbook for classes in information technology at introductory through advanced levels. Drawing on the work of a ten-year research program in which the authors worked with Danish and American companies, the book offers a framework for carrying out IT design projects as well as case studies that stand as examples of the process.
The method presented in Participatory IT Design—known as the MUST method, after a Danish acronym for theories and methods of initial analysis and design activities—was developed and tested in thirteen industrial design projects for companies and organizations that included an American airline, a multinational pharmaceutical company, a national broadcasting corporation, a multinational software house, and American and Danish universities. The first part of the book introduces the concepts and guidelines on which the method is based, while the second and third parts are designed as a practical toolbox for utilizing the MUST method. Part II describes the four phases of a design project—initiation, in-line analysis, in-depth analysis, and innovation. Part III explains the method's sixteen techniques and related representation tools, offering first an overview and then specific descriptions of each in separate sections.
The goal of participatory IT design is to set sensible, general, and workable guidelines for the introduction of new information technology systems into an organization. Reflecting the latest systems-development research, this book encourages a business-oriented and socially sensitive approach that takes into consideration the specific organizational context as well as first-hand knowledge of users' work practices and allows all stakeholders—users, management, and staff—to participate in the process. Participatory IT Design is a guide to the theory and practice of this process that can be used as a reference work by IT professionals and as a textbook for classes in information technology at introductory through advanced levels. Drawing on the work of a ten-year research program in which the authors worked with Danish and American companies, the book offers a framework for carrying out IT design projects as well as case studies that stand as examples of the process.
The method presented in Participatory IT Design—known as the MUST method, after a Danish acronym for theories and methods of initial analysis and design activities—was developed and tested in thirteen industrial design projects for companies and organizations that included an American airline, a multinational pharmaceutical company, a national broadcasting corporation, a multinational software house, and American and Danish universities. The first part of the book introduces the concepts and guidelines on which the method is based, while the second and third parts are designed as a practical toolbox for utilizing the MUST method. Part II describes the four phases of a design project—initiation, in-line analysis, in-depth analysis, and innovation. Part III explains the method's sixteen techniques and related representation tools, offering first an overview and then specific descriptions of each in separate sections.
En IT-forundersøgelse strækker sig fra den første idé om en forandring, til der er udviklet en gennemarbejdet vision for den samlede forandring, som udgangspunkt for en udbudsforretning. Denne bog præsenterer "MUST-metoden", som gennem... more
En IT-forundersøgelse strækker sig fra den første idé om en forandring, til der er udviklet en gennemarbejdet vision for den samlede forandring, som udgangspunkt for en udbudsforretning.
Denne bog præsenterer "MUST-metoden", som gennem 10 år er blevet udviklet og afprøvet af forfatterne, i samarbejde med en række danske og amerikanske virksomheder.
Erfarne IT-praktikere og undervisere mener om metoden:
- At den dækker alle relevante aspekter af en forundersøgelse
- At den tilbyder simple og effektive teknikker samt introducerer beskrivelsesværktøjer uden formalismer, som kan involvere faglige eksperter, der ikke nødvendigvis har stor erfaring med IT-projekter
- At den sikrer bedre forankring af visionerne
- At den hjælper projektlederen til at planlægge og styre forundersøgelsen hensigtsmæssigt og struktureret.
- At den hjælper til at få ledelsen involveret, ikke kun i passive "godkendelser", men som aktive deltagere i processen
- At den tilbyder konkrete anvisninger på at engagere de ansatte i en forundersøgelse
- At den fungerer som middel til at præsentere og forklare processen for kunder
- At den bryder med tidligere projekters store afhængighed af for detaljerede specifikationer som grundlag for udbudsforretningen
- At den kan benyttes i undervisning på flere niveauer, både ved introducerende værktøjsbaserede kurser, som metodisk grundbog i projektarbejde og i avancerede kurser inden for IT-strategi.
Metoden bygger på den nyeste systemudviklingsforskning, hvor IT-projekter konsekvent anskues i et forretningsorienteret perspektiv, hvor ledelse og ansatte aktivt deltager i hele projektet, hvor førstehåndskendskab til brugernes arbejdspraksis udgør en vigtig del af forudsætningerne for visioner om forandring, og hvor der fokuseres på, at resultaterne forankres hos alle berørte interessenter.
Forfatterne forsker og underviser i datalogi på Roskilde Universitetscenter og IT-højskolen i København.
"Der er kun skrevet få bøger på dansk om emnet, og det er meget prisværdigt at se en gennemarbejdet bog, der forsøger at etablere et begrebsapparat for IT-forundersøgelser. (...)Bogen har mange kvaliteter og kan så absolut anbefales til alle i målgruppen der ønsker inspiration og en referencebog for emnet." - Erik Westermann, Dataposten
Forlag: Samfundslitteratur
Sprog: Dansk
Illustreret: Ja
Denne bog præsenterer "MUST-metoden", som gennem 10 år er blevet udviklet og afprøvet af forfatterne, i samarbejde med en række danske og amerikanske virksomheder.
Erfarne IT-praktikere og undervisere mener om metoden:
- At den dækker alle relevante aspekter af en forundersøgelse
- At den tilbyder simple og effektive teknikker samt introducerer beskrivelsesværktøjer uden formalismer, som kan involvere faglige eksperter, der ikke nødvendigvis har stor erfaring med IT-projekter
- At den sikrer bedre forankring af visionerne
- At den hjælper projektlederen til at planlægge og styre forundersøgelsen hensigtsmæssigt og struktureret.
- At den hjælper til at få ledelsen involveret, ikke kun i passive "godkendelser", men som aktive deltagere i processen
- At den tilbyder konkrete anvisninger på at engagere de ansatte i en forundersøgelse
- At den fungerer som middel til at præsentere og forklare processen for kunder
- At den bryder med tidligere projekters store afhængighed af for detaljerede specifikationer som grundlag for udbudsforretningen
- At den kan benyttes i undervisning på flere niveauer, både ved introducerende værktøjsbaserede kurser, som metodisk grundbog i projektarbejde og i avancerede kurser inden for IT-strategi.
Metoden bygger på den nyeste systemudviklingsforskning, hvor IT-projekter konsekvent anskues i et forretningsorienteret perspektiv, hvor ledelse og ansatte aktivt deltager i hele projektet, hvor førstehåndskendskab til brugernes arbejdspraksis udgør en vigtig del af forudsætningerne for visioner om forandring, og hvor der fokuseres på, at resultaterne forankres hos alle berørte interessenter.
Forfatterne forsker og underviser i datalogi på Roskilde Universitetscenter og IT-højskolen i København.
"Der er kun skrevet få bøger på dansk om emnet, og det er meget prisværdigt at se en gennemarbejdet bog, der forsøger at etablere et begrebsapparat for IT-forundersøgelser. (...)Bogen har mange kvaliteter og kan så absolut anbefales til alle i målgruppen der ønsker inspiration og en referencebog for emnet." - Erik Westermann, Dataposten
Forlag: Samfundslitteratur
Sprog: Dansk
Illustreret: Ja
Design Research is a new interdisciplinary research area with a social science orientation at its heart, and this book explores how scientific knowledge can be put into practice in ways that are at once ethical, creative, helpful, and... more
Design Research is a new interdisciplinary research area with a social science orientation at its heart, and this book explores how scientific knowledge can be put into practice in ways that are at once ethical, creative, helpful, and extraordinary in their results.
In order to clarify the common aspects – in terms of features and approaches – that characterize all strands of research disciplines addressing design, Design Research undertakes an in depth exploration of the social processes involved in doing design, as well as analyses of the contexts for design use. The book further elicits ‘synergies from interdisciplinary perspectives’ by discussing and elaborating on differing academic perspectives, theoretical backgrounds, and design concept definitions, and evaluating their unique contribution to a general core of design research.
This book is an exciting contribution to this little explored field, and offers a truly interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of design and the design process. It is valuable reading for students in disciplines such as design studies and theory, participatory design, informatics, arts based education, planning, sociology and interdisciplinary programmes for example in humanities and technology.
Preface
This book is the result of ongoing discussions between interdisciplinary design researchers. The discussions were initiated among researchers at Roskilde University in 2007 when the university opened a new subject area within design studies, combining humanistic, technological, and social science perspectives to develop students’ competence to engage with complex design problems. Roskilde University is known for its interdisciplinary and design oriented approach to research and teaching. Moreover, a tradition of interdisciplinary problem oriented project work aimed at solving practical problems in the ‘real world’ has existed since the university was established in 1972 as an alternative to more traditional and mono-disciplinary universities.
A series of workshops was arranged between researchers from different areas of design research, including business and organizational studies, urban planning, computer science and informatics, geography, health, performance design. We quickly realized that we shared interdisciplinary perspectives on the emerging field of design research and discovered a need for more research into interdisciplinary approaches to enable design that is robust by appreciating the realities and dynamic complexities of its context.
The idea of investigating synergies between our own forms of design research culminated in a conference discussing nine paper contributions (some of which later formed input to chapters of this book) on the theme ‘Perspectives on Practice-Oriented Design Science’, held in spring, 2008. The proposal for this book was made after this conference, in collaboration with design researchers from Lancaster University, which is also famous for its interdisciplinary and design oriented programs. The team of contributors finally comprised 23 authors from Roskilde University, Lancaster University, University of Montreal, University of Aarhus, Georgia State University, Copenhagen University, and The Danish Design School.
Our discussions have focused on how our interdisciplinary design research knowledge is put into practice, and on which common aspects and approaches characterize our different ways of addressing design research. To develop synergies, all contributors met at an international workshop held in Denmark in August 2009, funded by Roskilde University where authors peer-reviewed and discussed draft chapters. Over two days, we discussed and elaborated our different perspectives, discovered and nurtured synergies, and identified core aspects of our interdisciplinary design research. The results from the workshop were subsequently analyzed by the editors using a grounded theory approach and are presented in the concluding chapter 14: Synergies.
As editors we have immensely enjoyed our numerous conversations and exchanges of draft materials with the authors in this book. We hope that you will enjoy reading the book and participate in the discussions that it raises. During fall 2009, we had the opportunity to test a draft of the book in an advanced graduate course and experienced how the chapters opened up deep and relevant discussions among students and their supervisors.
Finally, we would like to thank Roskilde University’s Rector for funding the international workshop, and our departments colleagues for their support. To work with the enthusiastic and competent staff at Routledge has been a pleasure. Making this book was a rewarding experience of iterative and emergent collaborative design, challenging, enriching and joyful!
Roskilde University and Lancaster University, December 2009
Jesper Simonsen, Jørgen Ole Bærenholdt, Monika Büscher, and John Damm Scheuer
In order to clarify the common aspects – in terms of features and approaches – that characterize all strands of research disciplines addressing design, Design Research undertakes an in depth exploration of the social processes involved in doing design, as well as analyses of the contexts for design use. The book further elicits ‘synergies from interdisciplinary perspectives’ by discussing and elaborating on differing academic perspectives, theoretical backgrounds, and design concept definitions, and evaluating their unique contribution to a general core of design research.
This book is an exciting contribution to this little explored field, and offers a truly interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of design and the design process. It is valuable reading for students in disciplines such as design studies and theory, participatory design, informatics, arts based education, planning, sociology and interdisciplinary programmes for example in humanities and technology.
Preface
This book is the result of ongoing discussions between interdisciplinary design researchers. The discussions were initiated among researchers at Roskilde University in 2007 when the university opened a new subject area within design studies, combining humanistic, technological, and social science perspectives to develop students’ competence to engage with complex design problems. Roskilde University is known for its interdisciplinary and design oriented approach to research and teaching. Moreover, a tradition of interdisciplinary problem oriented project work aimed at solving practical problems in the ‘real world’ has existed since the university was established in 1972 as an alternative to more traditional and mono-disciplinary universities.
A series of workshops was arranged between researchers from different areas of design research, including business and organizational studies, urban planning, computer science and informatics, geography, health, performance design. We quickly realized that we shared interdisciplinary perspectives on the emerging field of design research and discovered a need for more research into interdisciplinary approaches to enable design that is robust by appreciating the realities and dynamic complexities of its context.
The idea of investigating synergies between our own forms of design research culminated in a conference discussing nine paper contributions (some of which later formed input to chapters of this book) on the theme ‘Perspectives on Practice-Oriented Design Science’, held in spring, 2008. The proposal for this book was made after this conference, in collaboration with design researchers from Lancaster University, which is also famous for its interdisciplinary and design oriented programs. The team of contributors finally comprised 23 authors from Roskilde University, Lancaster University, University of Montreal, University of Aarhus, Georgia State University, Copenhagen University, and The Danish Design School.
Our discussions have focused on how our interdisciplinary design research knowledge is put into practice, and on which common aspects and approaches characterize our different ways of addressing design research. To develop synergies, all contributors met at an international workshop held in Denmark in August 2009, funded by Roskilde University where authors peer-reviewed and discussed draft chapters. Over two days, we discussed and elaborated our different perspectives, discovered and nurtured synergies, and identified core aspects of our interdisciplinary design research. The results from the workshop were subsequently analyzed by the editors using a grounded theory approach and are presented in the concluding chapter 14: Synergies.
As editors we have immensely enjoyed our numerous conversations and exchanges of draft materials with the authors in this book. We hope that you will enjoy reading the book and participate in the discussions that it raises. During fall 2009, we had the opportunity to test a draft of the book in an advanced graduate course and experienced how the chapters opened up deep and relevant discussions among students and their supervisors.
Finally, we would like to thank Roskilde University’s Rector for funding the international workshop, and our departments colleagues for their support. To work with the enthusiastic and competent staff at Routledge has been a pleasure. Making this book was a rewarding experience of iterative and emergent collaborative design, challenging, enriching and joyful!
Roskilde University and Lancaster University, December 2009
Jesper Simonsen, Jørgen Ole Bærenholdt, Monika Büscher, and John Damm Scheuer
With its 10th biennial anniversary conference in 2008, Participatory Design (PD) was leaving its teens and must now be considered ready to join the adult world and to think big: PD should engage in large-scale information-systems... more
With its 10th biennial anniversary conference in 2008, Participatory Design (PD) was leaving its teens and must now be considered ready to join the adult world and to think big: PD should engage in large-scale information-systems development and opt for a sustained PD approach applied throughout design and organizational implementation. To pursue this aim we extend the iterative PD approach by (1) emphasizing PD experiments that transcend traditional prototyping and evaluate systems during real work; (2) incorporating improvisational change management including anticipated, emergent, and opportunity-based change; and (3) extending initial design and development into a sustained, stepwise implementation that constitutes an overall technology-driven organizational change. Sustained PD is exemplified through a PD experiment in the Danish healthcare sector. We reflect on our experiences from this experiment and discuss four challenges PD must address in dealing with large-scale systems development.
Keywords: Sustained Participatory Design, Extended Iterative approach, Large-Scale Information Systems, Improvisational Change Management, Technochange, EPR.
Keywords: Sustained Participatory Design, Extended Iterative approach, Large-Scale Information Systems, Improvisational Change Management, Technochange, EPR.
Participatory design (PD) can play an important role in obtaining benefits from healthcare information technologies, but we contend that to fulfil this role PD must incorporate feedback from real use of the technologies. In this chapter... more
Participatory design (PD) can play an important role in obtaining benefits from healthcare information technologies, but we contend that to fulfil this role PD must incorporate feedback from real use of the technologies. In this chapter we describe an effects-driven PD approach that revolves around a sustained focus on pursued effects and uses the experience sampling method (ESM) to collect real-use feedback. To illustrate the use of the method we analyze a case that involves the organizational implementation of electronic whiteboards at a Danish hospital to support the clinicians’ intra- and interdepartmental coordination. The hospital aimed to reduce the number of phone calls involved in coordinating work because many phone calls were seen as unnecessary interruptions. To learn about the interruptions we introduced an app for capturing quantitative data and qualitative feedback about the phone calls. The investigation showed that the electronic whiteboards had little potential for reducing the number of phone calls at the operating ward. The combination of quantitative data and qualitative feedback worked both as a basis for aligning assumptions to data and showed ESM as an instrument for triggering in-situ reflection. The participant- driven design and redesign of the way data were captured by means of ESM is a central contribution to the understanding of how to conduct effects-driven PD.
Keywords. Effects, interruptions, experience sampling, electronic whiteboard, learning, nurse coordinator, health information technology, interdepartmental
Keywords. Effects, interruptions, experience sampling, electronic whiteboard, learning, nurse coordinator, health information technology, interdepartmental
This is the new reference handbook for Participatory Design. Participatory Design is about the direct involvement of people in the co-design of the information technologies they use. Its central concern is how collaborative design... more
This is the new reference handbook for Participatory Design. Participatory Design is about the direct involvement of people in the co-design of the information technologies they use. Its central concern is how collaborative design processes can be driven by the participation of the people who will be affected by the technology that is being designed.
Participatory Design embraces a diverse collection of principles, and practices aimed at making technologies, tools, environments, businesses, and social institutions more responsive to human needs. It brings together a multidisciplinary and international group of software developers, researchers, social scientists, managers, designers, practitioners, users, cultural workers, activists, and citizens who both advocate and adopt distinctively participatory approaches in the development of information and communication artefacts, systems, services, and technology.
It is our hope that this book will become the basis for Participatory Design courses at colleges and universities worldwide and that it will endure and remain a relevant reference for the next decade and beyond. The book’s target audience is researchers and practitioners who are already working within Participatory Design, are interested in doing so, or who wish to obtain an authoritative overview of the field and its history. We hope especially to inspire new researchers to join our research community. The book provides an introduction and a reference to core areas of Participatory Design including thorough literature reviews, discussions of central contributions and challenges for current and future research areas, as well as chapters demonstrating the practical large-scale application of Participatory Design.
The book has been written by a group of highly recognized, very experienced and profoundly engaged Participatory Design researchers and practitioners with first hand knowledge of the discourse that has shaped the field over the last decades. We have endeavoured to illustrate why Participatory Design is such a valuable approach to thinking about design. We demonstrate why Participatory Design is an important, relevant, and most rewarding area for research and practice.
Participatory Design has so much to offer to those living and working in environments where technologies are designed and used. Some of the most obvious examples include: clarifying design goals, formulating needs, designing coherent visions for change, combining business-oriented and socially sensitive approaches, initiating participation and partnerships with different stakeholders, using ethnographic analysis as part of the design process, establishing mutual learning processes among heterogeneous participants, conducting iterative experiments aiming at organizational change, managing stepwise implementation based on comprehensive evaluations, and providing a large toolbox of different practical techniques to encourage and enable participation. Most importantly, its defining commitment to ensuring active and genuine participation offers a principled design approach and practice to those seeking to harness the benefits of new technology for greater human good.
The Participatory Design community meets every second year at the biennial Participatory Design conferences. The idea for this book was fostered at the 10th Anniversary Conference on Participatory Design held in Bloomington, Indiana, USA in 2008. The theme of this conference, Experiences and Challenges, was chosen to celebrate that the Participatory Design community had been meeting for 20 years since the first conference held in 1990. At the conference, a need for a new handbook was voiced and discussed. Other very popular books have been published on Participatory Design, but the need for an updated book was obvious. The two books published by Lawrence Erlbaum (Design at Work: Cooperative Design of Computer Systems from 1991 edited by Greenbaum and Kyng; Participatory Design: Principles and Practices, from 1993, edited by Schuler and Namioka) have, to date, been the key handbooks available on Participatory Design and they are still widely cited.
We were the programme chairs for the 2008 conference and encouraged to initiate this book. We developed a proposal and invited 22 Participatory Design experts to join the project. All contributors met at a full day workshop held at the 11th Participatory Design Conference in Sydney, Australia in 2010. At this workshop, we reviewed and discussed a 140 page draft for the book. During 2011 there was one major review round for all chapters and an additional review round for selected chapters. All have received from six to ten extensive reviews by the authors and editors as well as one or two editorial meta-reviews analyzing and commenting on the collection of reviews. Drafts for each chapter and summaries of the chapters have been circulated between the contributors to ensure quality, consistency, and proper cross-references. We will celebrate the final publication of the book at the 12th Participatory Design conference in Roskilde, Denmark in August 2012. A workshop will be held at the 13th Participatory Design conference in 2014 where we will discuss our experiences in using the book in university courses at advanced bachelor, graduate or PhD levels.
As editors we have enjoyed immensely our numerous conversations, discussions, reflections, and exchanges of draft materials with the authors in this book. We hope that you will enjoy reading the book, share the insights it provides, and participate in the discussions that it raises.
December 2011,
Jesper Simonsen and Toni Robertson
Participatory Design embraces a diverse collection of principles, and practices aimed at making technologies, tools, environments, businesses, and social institutions more responsive to human needs. It brings together a multidisciplinary and international group of software developers, researchers, social scientists, managers, designers, practitioners, users, cultural workers, activists, and citizens who both advocate and adopt distinctively participatory approaches in the development of information and communication artefacts, systems, services, and technology.
It is our hope that this book will become the basis for Participatory Design courses at colleges and universities worldwide and that it will endure and remain a relevant reference for the next decade and beyond. The book’s target audience is researchers and practitioners who are already working within Participatory Design, are interested in doing so, or who wish to obtain an authoritative overview of the field and its history. We hope especially to inspire new researchers to join our research community. The book provides an introduction and a reference to core areas of Participatory Design including thorough literature reviews, discussions of central contributions and challenges for current and future research areas, as well as chapters demonstrating the practical large-scale application of Participatory Design.
The book has been written by a group of highly recognized, very experienced and profoundly engaged Participatory Design researchers and practitioners with first hand knowledge of the discourse that has shaped the field over the last decades. We have endeavoured to illustrate why Participatory Design is such a valuable approach to thinking about design. We demonstrate why Participatory Design is an important, relevant, and most rewarding area for research and practice.
Participatory Design has so much to offer to those living and working in environments where technologies are designed and used. Some of the most obvious examples include: clarifying design goals, formulating needs, designing coherent visions for change, combining business-oriented and socially sensitive approaches, initiating participation and partnerships with different stakeholders, using ethnographic analysis as part of the design process, establishing mutual learning processes among heterogeneous participants, conducting iterative experiments aiming at organizational change, managing stepwise implementation based on comprehensive evaluations, and providing a large toolbox of different practical techniques to encourage and enable participation. Most importantly, its defining commitment to ensuring active and genuine participation offers a principled design approach and practice to those seeking to harness the benefits of new technology for greater human good.
The Participatory Design community meets every second year at the biennial Participatory Design conferences. The idea for this book was fostered at the 10th Anniversary Conference on Participatory Design held in Bloomington, Indiana, USA in 2008. The theme of this conference, Experiences and Challenges, was chosen to celebrate that the Participatory Design community had been meeting for 20 years since the first conference held in 1990. At the conference, a need for a new handbook was voiced and discussed. Other very popular books have been published on Participatory Design, but the need for an updated book was obvious. The two books published by Lawrence Erlbaum (Design at Work: Cooperative Design of Computer Systems from 1991 edited by Greenbaum and Kyng; Participatory Design: Principles and Practices, from 1993, edited by Schuler and Namioka) have, to date, been the key handbooks available on Participatory Design and they are still widely cited.
We were the programme chairs for the 2008 conference and encouraged to initiate this book. We developed a proposal and invited 22 Participatory Design experts to join the project. All contributors met at a full day workshop held at the 11th Participatory Design Conference in Sydney, Australia in 2010. At this workshop, we reviewed and discussed a 140 page draft for the book. During 2011 there was one major review round for all chapters and an additional review round for selected chapters. All have received from six to ten extensive reviews by the authors and editors as well as one or two editorial meta-reviews analyzing and commenting on the collection of reviews. Drafts for each chapter and summaries of the chapters have been circulated between the contributors to ensure quality, consistency, and proper cross-references. We will celebrate the final publication of the book at the 12th Participatory Design conference in Roskilde, Denmark in August 2012. A workshop will be held at the 13th Participatory Design conference in 2014 where we will discuss our experiences in using the book in university courses at advanced bachelor, graduate or PhD levels.
As editors we have enjoyed immensely our numerous conversations, discussions, reflections, and exchanges of draft materials with the authors in this book. We hope that you will enjoy reading the book, share the insights it provides, and participate in the discussions that it raises.
December 2011,
Jesper Simonsen and Toni Robertson
This dissertation is concerned with the early part of systemsdesign, the purpose of which is that users and their managers can decide which computer-based systems are needed and relevant, and how they can be provided, i.e. purchased,... more
This dissertation is concerned with the early part of systemsdesign, the purpose of which is that users and their managers can decide which computer-based systems are needed and relevant, and how they can be provided, i.e. purchased, and/or developed, and implemented, in a specific organization. Systems design begins with are cognition of a possible need for computer support in a specific organization, continues until this need has been analysed, described, evaluated, and discussed, ande nds with the description of an overall conceptual and functional design for the corre- sponding computer-based systems. The research objective behind this dissertation aims at developing theories of and approachesto systems design, which should provide a basis for designersto improve their work practices. In other words, this dissertation contributes to a clarification of what is going on in design, and how we, as designers, should deal with the process of designing for a specific organization.
The dissertation is based on exploratory empirical studies in one organization using action researchas the researchapproach. The focus oft he action research project is on improving work practices for designers by developing methodological guidelines, heuristics, or “rules of thumb”. This involves organizational issues comprising of social, political, and managerial/strategical aspects within the organization.
The dissertation is based on exploratory empirical studies in one organization using action researchas the researchapproach. The focus oft he action research project is on improving work practices for designers by developing methodological guidelines, heuristics, or “rules of thumb”. This involves organizational issues comprising of social, political, and managerial/strategical aspects within the organization.